Cybathlon: Making disability sport more accessible

Updated 6:24 AM ET, Wed July 15, 2015

Chat with us in Facebook Messenger. Find out what's happening in the world as it unfolds.

Photos:'I just want to play'

Being the best? – Sophie Elwes is a 26-year-old trainee teacher from London. She is disabled and, although she loves sport herself, doesn't think all disability sport should be linked to elite level competition.

Hide Caption

1 of 8

Photos:'I just want to play'

'Damaging' – "It's damaging how all the publicity about disability sport is about people who are really, really good at it," says Elwes. "There's nothing about people who aren't."

Hide Caption

2 of 8

Photos:'I just want to play'

Friends – "It's a hard thing to accept that you might play a sport and not be amazing," says Elwes, pictured with friends after a charity event in 2014.

Hide Caption

3 of 8

Photos:'I just want to play'

Bionics – Cybathlon is a new event offering hope for people like Elwes, who want everyday tasks to be made simpler and access to sport cheaper. Dr. Aldo Faisal (pictured center) leads Imperial College London's Cybathlon team.

Hide Caption

4 of 8

Photos:'I just want to play'

State of the art? – Invictus Games captain Dave Henson hopes for big things from Cybathlon. He says his own prosthetics no longer seem modern-- and he believes it's possible to make much cheaper, more beneficial artificial limbs in future, with Cybathlon's help.

Hide Caption

5 of 8

Photos:'I just want to play'

Costly prosthetics – "Prosthetic knee joints are only really good for walking in a straight line on level terrain," says Henson. "Things like riding a bike or walking up and down stairs are really where you start to notice."

Hide Caption

6 of 8

Photos:'I just want to play'

Martin Colclough -- right, with Henson -- is Help for Heroes' head of sports recovery. "It's not so much about the athletic ability of the people using the devices," he says, "it's about how clever and transferable the technology can become."